Kiana somehow was able to slip out of the castle around 3 o'clock in the morning and she made her way outside, inhaling deeply the fresh air. "Ugh, I wonder if anyone else has trouble getting to sleep in this place." A thick Irish accent mumbled before Kiana groaned as she sat down in the damp grass near the edge of the Great Lake, feeling the water seep into the fabric of her dark blue jeans over her pale skin.

The night air was crisp and cool, leaving droplets of dew on the grass blades, the moon a small sliver of silver illuminating the pitch-black sky that was also filled with the beating hearts of the stars tossed carelessly like splattered paint on a canvas of darkness. She pulled her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees, arms lacing gently around them with slender fingers interlocking as the soft breeze carried her silver locks over her exposed shoulders from her black tank top, only to have them dance within it briefly before settling down to her lower back with bangs clouding deep, sapphire hues as they gazed to the still waters in front of her.

Kiana always had a hard time sleeping, Insomnia, is what they called it but it was never as bad as it was in recent days. She had moved from the comfort and warmth of her grandmother's small bungalow in the hills of Ireland, nestled in the small town of pure-bloods that once seemed so safe and secure to her into the large, stone castle that felt as cold as ice even in the warmth of the mid-summer day.

She had no friends, made no effort to make any and was in a house with very little knowledge on the topics she would need to master by the end of her seventh year at the school known as Hogwarts. Witches and wizards from all over Europe were summoned here at the age of eleven to begin their ascent into greatness but Kiana did not see high hopes for herself. Then again, she never really held high hopes in anything.

She was shy when it came to new people, and withdrawn, finding places like the Great Lake and the woods nearby her grandmothers to hide in so she didn't have to suffer the anxiety of rejection. There was also the small issue of being cursed. Of course, it was not something cast on her as a child nor was it anything anyone had particularly done to her to give her a run of bad luck for some years, but rather it was the dark fact that everyone she loved and cared about was murdered before her. Her parents, then her grandmother and the people of the town she lived in, it seemed like where ever Kiana ran away to get free of Death, he kept right on her heels.

Naturally she decided that the only way to avoid the constant pain of seeing those she cared for ripped away into darkness was to avoid everyone at all costs. The only things she could count on were the animals she came across in her adventures who seemed to understand her when she spoke and who she seemed able to understand herself. Maybe that was because she came from a long line of Animagus.

Kiana loved the Thestral, those being one of the creatures she had come across in the woods when she first moved in with her grandmother at a young age. Black, skeletal horses with wings that feasted on raw meat that Kiana found beautiful. No one could understand who the girl was talking to when she would stop and look up as a toddler and giggle and babble to the thin air. It wasn’t until she was a little older that she finally was able to explain it to her grandmother.

The Thestral made Kiana feel safe and happy, but her grandmother seemed to swallow a sadness when she looked into the child's eyes, knowing why she could see them. Kiana frowned as her hues moved from the black, glass like surface of the lake to the sky mirrored on its surface. She wondered if her family was still watching over her, she wondered how she was ever going to make them proud.

"I can't have their death be in vain, but I'll never be a great witch....I'll never be anything...." A heavy sigh exited her lips before her lips pursed slightly to the right and she blew a small puff of breath to move the bangs from in front of her eyes. She looked back to the water and contemplated going for a swim. There was only one problem, she hated not being able to see what was below her in water, especially when it was late at night.

Instead she opted for taking off her black sneakers and ankle socks, scooting forward in the grass until she was close enough to roll up her pant legs and dip her feet into the icy waters, ripples spreading out ruining the mirror. She gave a small squeal and shivered. "Aye! Thank god I didn’t decide to just jump in!" She grumbled as she leaned back on her hands, palms tickled by the grass and she gave a small smile, feeling much better now that she was outdoors again.